Bottle filling machine



Dec. 21,1937. J. KANTOR I 2,103,158

BOTTLE FILL IN G MACHINE Filed Dec. 29,1952 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 A I I I J 5' y INVENTOR. James Ha 2130:,

v ATTORNEYS Dec. 21, 1937. QK 2,103,158

BOTTLE FILLING MACHINE Fild Dec. 29, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

James Haintar,

ATTORNEYS Dec. 21, 1937. J. KANTOR 2,103,158

BOTTLE FILLING MACHINE e Sheets-Sheet 5' Filed Dec. 29, 1932 &

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ATTORNEYS Dec. 21, 1937. KANTOR 2,103,158

BOTTLE FILLING MACHINE Filed Dec. 29, 1952 GSheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. Jamas Kantor;

mromvzsysv Dec. 21,1937.

J. KANTOR BOTTLE FILLINQ MACHINE Filed Dec. 29, 1952 '5 Sheejzs-Sheet e INVENTOR.

James Hantor,

ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 21, 1937 BOTTLE FILLING MACHINE James Kantor, Chicago, Il1.,, assignor to The Liquid Carbonic Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application December 29, 1932, Serial No. 649,275 17 Claims. (01. 226 -75) My invention relates to improvements in automatic bottle filling machines and primarily to that type of bottle filling machine wherein the bottle has initially delivered thereto a prede- 5 termincd quantity of syrup, after which the bottle is filled preferably by what is known as the counter-pressure system, with carbonated water and is then delivered to the crowning machine which places the crown thereon after whic 1- the bottie is ready for delivery.

One of the objects of my invention is vide a machine which comprises in a self-contained unitary apparatus means for delivering the bottle to the syruper, transferring the bottle from the syruper to the filling apparatus, transferring the bottle from the filling apparatus to the crowner, and then delivering the bottle from the machine. Another object of my invention is to provide a machine having the above characteristics which may be rapidly operated and which will handle a large number of bottles in a comparatively short space of time.

The machine embodying my invention is what may be termed an 18-spout filler, that is, the

to the bottle is provided with eighteen spouts for the purpose of handling eighteen bottles and delivering carbonated water in the proper manner throughout one rotation or the filler table. In other words, there are eighteen bottles being treated by the filling machine at the same time, although the bottles are delivered to the machine and taken therefrom one at a time. Such an arrangement provides for a rapid filling of the bottles with carbonated water as it will be understood that during the process of filling the bottles with carbonated water the bottle has initially delivered thereto CO: which develops suf- 'ficient counter-pressure in the bottle so that upon the admission of the carbonated water to the bottle it will flow into the bottle slowly, the CO2 escaping gradually as the water flows therein. After the bottle has been filled the remaining gas in the bottle is snifted and the bottle is ready for delivery to the crowningmachine. The various operations of iillingtake place in the .bottle during the rotation of the bottle on the carrier table and it is obvious that in order to increase the speed it is advisable to have as large. a number of bottles as possible going through the different steps of filling.

A further object of my invention is the provision of means whereby the continued flow of the bottles to the filler shall not be interrupted to proapparatus for delivering the carbonated water during the syruping operation nor shall the continued flow of bottles from the filler be interment.

For the purpose or" disclosing my invention I have illustrated certain embodiments thereof in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig; 1 is a perspective view of .a filling machine embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan' view showing the conveying mechanism for delivering the bottle to the syruper, the conveying mechanism for carrying the bottle-through the syruper, a diagrammatic 'plan view of the filler and the returning conveying mechanism for removing the bottle from the filler and passing the same through the crowning machine; e a Fig. 3 is a more or less diagrammatic view showing the drive for the respective propelling means for the bottles, including the drive for operating the filler;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view of a clutch between the driving motor for operating the machine and the drive of the machine;

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view of the.

syruping mechanism;

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view of the crowner assembly; Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view of the crowner; and

Fig. '8 is a detail sectional view showing another position of certain parts 01' the crowner.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated v the'machine is adapted to be mounted on a suitable base I which provides also the necessary enclosing casing 2 for a number oi the operating parts thereof. This base supports the filling apparatus 3 of which there is only shown, more or lessdiagrammatically, the bottle sup- Dorting table 4, in Fig. 2. In addition to the filling apparatus there is provided a syruper 5 and a crowner 6 which is provided with a-suitdeflecting portions i2 and I3 which turn the bottle of! of the conveyor and deliver the same to the propellingstar wheel I which is provided with three pockets l5, l6, and i1 adapted to receive the bottles as they are delivered thereto from the conveyor and convey the bottles through the syruping stage, ultimately delivering the same to a six-pocket star wheel l8 which receives the bottle from the syruper star and delivers it to one of the bottle receiving tables I! of the filling machine 4. A suitable guide 20 is provided for assisting in maintaining the direction of travel of the bottle from the syruper star ii to the table 19 and this guide isresiliently maintained in position by spring mechanism 2|. After the bottle has been filled with the carbonated water it is then picked up by the fingers of the star wheel l9 and removed from the bottle table of-the filler to be delivered by the star wheel ii to the crowning star 22, a stationary guide 23 being provided for assisting in the guiding of the bottle to the proper receiving position for the crowner star and a suitable additional guide 24 assists in maintaining the bottle in driving relatlonin the star 22. This guide is resiliently maintained in position by suitable spring mechanism 25 and a further guide for guiding the bottle from the star wheel 22 again to the conveyor 9 is provided as at 23.

The above mentioned parts, the conveyor chain,

the syruper star, the delivery star, the filler table,

and the crowning star are in continuous movement and for the purpose of synchronously driving these various parts Iprovide a mechanism of the character illustrated in Fig; 3. As illustrated in Fig. 3 there is provided an electric motor 21 which in turn drivesa suitable variable speed mechanism 29 througlra friction clutch 29. This variable speed mechanism may be of any of the well known types, such for instance, as that which is commercially known as the Reeves drive, and through the clutch 29 is connected with the motor 21 by a chain drive 30.

The clutch 29, as illustrated in Fig. 4, comprises a driving member 3| provided with a sprocket 32 for receiving the chain 39 and this driving member is provided with a series of recesses or pockets 33 on its side face which receive fingers 34 of a. friction disc 35. This friction disc lies between. a pair of friction members 36 and 31 which constitute the friction faces of a pair of driven discs 38 keyed on a sleeve 39. These driven discs 39 are interposed between a pair of axially stationary abutment discs 49 which in their peripheries are provided with grooves adapted to receive rings ll of rubber. The rubber rings provide resilient members for holding the driven discs 39 in friction contact with the drive disc 35 and the pressure of these rubber rings maybe adjusted by a suitable set nut 42.

The sleeve 39 is in turn keyed to the shaft 43, the drive shaft, of the variable speed transmission. This type of clutch'provides for a ready slippage in event of the jamming .of a bottle at any time during itsprogress through the ma chine. The clutch is adjusted to apoint slightly above that necessary to ull the mechanism of the apparatus. Therefore any overloading such as would be caused bybottle-Jammingwould cause the clutch to slip and permit the machine toautomatically come to a stop. As soon as the Jam is cleared the machine is again ready for operation.

The driven shaft ll of the variable speed drive is connected by a chain with, what may be termed the driving shaft 45 of the machine. This shaft, really constitutes two shafts which are keyed or connected together by the sleeve 41 and is provided with a pair of worms I8 and 49, the

worm 49 being mounted on a sleeve 59 driven through a friction shaft 49.

The syruper star H, as a matter of fact, comdrive connection 5| from the prises a pair of star wheels-H and Ila vertically "spaced and mounted on a sleeve 52 which will be more fully described hereinafter. This sleeve at its lower end is provided with a worm wheel 53 adapted to engage and be driven from the worm 49. The sleeve 52 is likewise provided with a gear wheel 54 driving through a train of gears 55 and 56, a gear 51 mounted on the shaft 58 of the conveyor star [8. This gear 59 also meshes with an idler gear 59 in turn driving a pinion ill meshing with a gear 5| on the filler table whereby, it will be noted, these parts are mounted on a vertical shaft 56 provided at its lower end with a bevel gear 6'! driving a bevel gear 68, on a horizontal shaft 69 carrying a chain sprocket 10. This chain sprocket I0 drives the chain II which in turn is connected with-the driving 'shaft 12 of the conveyor 9.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 5 which illustrates, in section, the syruper it will be noted that the worm gear 53 surrounds a vertical sleevel3 extending upwardly from the part 14 of the enclosing casing 2. This sleeve 13 is supported from the enclosing casing portion 14 which in turn has formed integrally therewith a bearing 15 for the shaft 15 of the gear 59 and a bearing 11 for the shaft 18 of the pinion 60. The

bottle table I9 is also supported from this part of the casing which likewise supports a. housing 93 for the worm 49. The hub of the worm gear '53 is pinned by suitable connecting pins 8i to the sleeve 52, so that this sleeve will rotate therewith and this sleeve is provided with a rotatable.

bottle table 82, flush with the top of the housing section 14 and provided with a. bottle spot. 33 so that as the bottle is fed to the syruper star l4 it will not be dragged over a stationary table but will be mounted on, during its movement with the syruper star, a-rotatable table.

The syruper 5 is provided with three reciprocating syrup delivery members 84, one for each of the syruper star pockets and each 'of which is provided with an engaging head adapted to engage the mouth of the bottle, as the same is moved in position therebeneath. Thesyruper is reciprocable for the purpose of engaging and delivering a charge of syrup to the bottle and to this end is reciprocably mounted in a supported sleeve 93 in turn carried on a sleeve 8'lsurround-' ing the driving sleeve,52 and keyed thereto by a suitable, key and slot connection 98. As a matter of fact the sleeve member or syrup carrier is provided withthree sleeves 89 in each of which is reciprocably mounted a syruper. This carrier 81 is supported from a carrier sleeve 39 provided with an annular flange 90 to provide a ball bearing support SI for a flange 92 secured to the car rier sleeve 07 and the carrier sleeve 89 is keyed as at 93 to the stationary sleeve I3 so that the carrier sleeve is stationary although vertically adjustable relative to the syrup carrier sleeve, which as has heretofore been described, is rotatable.

T he carrier sleeve 89 is supported from a vertically adjustable supporting post 94 which is shouldered as at 95 at its top and supports a collar 96 to which the carrier sleeve is bolted, this collar being secured on the post 94 by means of set nuts 97. In addition to the carrier sleeve 89, there is provided a cam track 98, which is stationarily mounted and through the medium of which the syruper is reciprocated during its rotating movement. Tot-his end the reciprocating syruper 94 is provided with a yoke 99 the upper end of which is provided with a roller I00 adapted to operate in the cam track 90 so that, due to the shape ofthe cam track as the syruper rotates the roller will move the yoke up and down to engage the throat 85 with the neck of the bottle during the syruping operation and again raise the throat during the period that a .bottie is removed from the syruper or delivered thereto. It 'will be noted in this connection that the housing IOI enclosing the syruper parts rotates with the syruper and this housing,

7 post and provided with a beveled gear I09 meshing with a beveled pinion IIO operated from the exterior of the machine througha hand-manipulated shaft III.

Referring now specifically to the crowning mechanism, the driving mechanism and supporting mechanism of the crowner is likewise en-- cased in and supported by the section I4 of the enclosing casing 2, although it is at the opposite end of the casing. The worm gear 63, to which reference has heretofore been made, and the worm 48 are enclosed in a housing II2 within the housing portion I4 and this housing forms a part of a stationary hollow vertically extending sleeve II3 which is surrounded by the worm gear 63 as well as the sleeve 62 driven thereby. This sleeve 52 supports, as well as the two crowner star wheels 22 and 22a a bottle carrying table II4 which rotates with the star wheel 22 and is pinned to the gear wheel 63 through the medium of locking pins II5.

Like the syruper the crowner isprovided with three crowning heads, the crowning mechanism of which is reciprocated vertically for the purpose of applying and crimping the crown to the bottle. Each of these heads reciprocates in a head sleeve H6 which in turn is provided with the hollow drive II'I surrounding the driving sleeve 62 and keyed as at I;: I.8 therewith. The crowner sleeve is supported from an annular support II9 resting upon an annular flange I on the carrier sleeve I2I, a suitable ball bearing I22 being interposed tween these parts, in view of the fact that the carrier sleeve I2I is stationary. This carrier sleeve I2I is secured to, by means of suitable bolts, the stationary casing I23 surrounding the operating parts and supported from the top of a. ver-' tically adjustable supporting post I24. This post together with the casing I23 carries a cam track I25 similar to the cam track 98 of the syruper and so shaped as to cause reciprocation of each of the crowners as the same rotate about the sup I32 for the purpose of vertically adjusting this.

post and withit the crowners to permit for an adjustment for different size or height of bottles. This supporting post is hollow to accommodate a vertical shaft I33 which extends therethrough, being driven at its lower end from a beveled gear drive I34 from the shaft 69 and being provided at its upper end with a beveled gear I35 for the purpose of driving the agitator of the crown hopper.

This casing section I4 also has formed integrally therewith a bearing support I36- for the shaft 68 and also supports the stationary portion I31 of the table, that portion II4 of the table, which is rotatable and is provided with a bottle spot I38 being flush with the top of the table I31 and for this purpose being set in, as is'the case with respect to the syruper, a recess in the table.

It will be understood that like the syruper mechanism there is provided three of the reciprocating crowners, one for each of the notches in the'crowner star 22. These like the syruper are equally spaced apart around the central post androtate with the feeding star.

The specific structure of each of the crowning units is illustrated more in detail in Figs. '7 and 8. Referring to these figures the yoke I28, at its lower end, is provided with a hollow cylindrical housing I39. A hollow stemv I40 is reciprccably mounted within this housing and carries at its lower end the crowning head I4I, adapted to en- I gage and crimp the crowns on the bottles. "A detail description of this head is not necessary at this point as the same is fully illustrated and dc scribed in my co-pending application filed October 20, 1930, Serial No. 489,777. Suflice to say that this head comprises a centering bell I42 and a suitable throat'having suitable crimping mechanism I43. The stem I40 is provided at its upper end with a plurality of pivoted dogs I44, the noses I45 of which are adapted to take into a V slot I48 formed by the two ring members I47 10- cated'at the upper end of the housing I39 and held in stationary position therein. Interposed between these ring members and an annular flange I48 is a coil spring I49.

Arranged within the hollow stem I40 is a plunger I50 maintained in its downward position, relative to the stem I40 and crowner throat by a coiled spring I 5i interposed between a shoulder I52 on the stern I40 and an annular flange I53 on the plunger. Theupper end of this plunger has a reduced portion In which provides a space to accommodate the dogs I, and at the lower end of this reduced portion IN a tapered shoulder I is formed, forming a cam member for spreading the lower ends of the dogs I 44 during the operation of the crowner.

In operation, as the crowning unit descends the top of the bottle is engaged and centered in the throat I42, the unit descending until the bottom 01' the plunger I750 contacts with the top of the cap or crown. The plunger I50 thus comes to a stop while the remaining portion including the crowning head and crimper continue to descend, the plunger being maintained in contact with the top of the cap and holding the same securely seated on the bottle through the medium of the coiled spring II. The continued downward movement of the stem Mil, which it will be remembered is positively connected. through the dogs I", with the housing I39 forces the throat and crimper mechanism downward over the bottle crimping the crown in position The actual movement, for crimping purposes, is only about a half inch and by the time the stem I40 has completed this half inch movement the cam shoulder I55 engages the lower ends oi the dogs I spreading their lower ends and disengaging the noses I from the V slot I46 thereby disengaging the positive connection between the stem I40 and the housing I39 so that the housing I39 can continue in its downward movement without bringing undue stress upon the crowning head. This construction provides for the compensation of and automatically takes care oi any variations in bottle heights and prevents any crushing tend'encyon the part oi the crowner where the bottles vary slightly in height.

I have not considered it necessary to illustrate and describe fully the crown feeding mecha nism. Sufllce to say that the crown hopper 8 is provided with a chute I which automatically feeds a crown into-each crowning unit as the unit passes the chute and before the unit commences to descend into engagement with the bottle.

Furthermore, it has not been considered necessary to specifically describe and illustrate the a bottle filling mechanism, as such a mechanism may be of the type as that illustrated in my issued Patent No. 1,847,485 dated March 1, 1932 or of a similar type.

The circuit of the electric motor 21 is controlled through the medium of a switch I56 and cooperating with the syruper star wheel I4 is a guide member I51 resiliently maintained in position by a spring mechanism I58 and adapted to yield under unusual pressure. This guide member I5! is connected by a link mechanism I59 with an operating arm I" of the switch I56 so that in event a bottle jams in passing into the syruper feeding star the continued pressure of the bottle against the guide member I51 will move the guide member in a direction to throw the switch I 58 opening the motor circuit and thus completely stopping the machine.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a bottle filling machine, the combination with a filler including a continuously moving bottle supporting means, a reciprocating syruping unit associated with said supporting means, a continuously moving means maintaining the bottle in receiving position relative to said syruping unit during the syruping action thereof, means for moving the syruping unit with the bottle maintaining means during the delivery of the syrup thereto and a. single continuously moving means timed to engage and remove the bottle from the syruping maintaining means and deliver the same to the filler supporting means and remove the bottle from said filler supporting means.

2. In a bottle filling machine, the combination with a bottle filler including a continuously moving bottle supporting means, a reciprocating syruping unit associated therewith, a reciprocating crowning unit associated therewith, continuously moving positioning means for positioning the bottle relatively to the syruping unit, continuously moving means for positioning the bottle relatively to the crowning unit, said crowning unit and syruper moving with their respective positioning means during the syruping and crowning operation and V continuously moving means for removing the bottle from the syruper positioning means and delivering the same to the filler supporting means and removing the bottle from said filler supporting means and'delivering the same to the crowner positioning means.

3. In a bottle filling machine, the combination with a bottle filler including a continuously moving support, of a continuously moving syruper reciprocably mounted for engagement with the bottle during the syruping operation, a continuously moving crowning machine reciprocably mounted for engagement with the bottle during the crowning operation, means for moving the bottle with the syruper during the syruping operation, means for moving the bottle with the crowner during the crowning operation and continuously moving means for removing a bottle from the syruper and delivering the same to the filler-supporting means andremoving the bottle from the filler-supporting means and-delivering the same to the crowner.

4. In a bottle filling machine, the combination with a bottle filler including a continuously rotating bottle supporting means, of a continuously rotating syruping means reciprocable into engagement with a bottle during the syruping operation, a continuously rotating positioning means for receiving the bottle and positioning the same beneath the syruper, a continuously rotating crowning unit reciprocable into engagement with the bottle during the crowningoperation, continuously rotating means for receiving and positioning the bottle beneath said crowning unit and a continuously rotating means for removing the bottle from the syruper positioning means and delivering the same to the filler supporting means and removing the bottle from the filler supporting means and delivering the same to the crowning positioning means.

5. In a bottle filling machine, the combination with a filler including a continuously moving bottle supporting means, a reciprocating syruping 1 unit associated with said supporting means. a continuously moving means maintaining the bottle in position relative to the syruping unit, means for moving the syruping unit with the bottle during the delivery of the syrup thereto,

means actuated by the movement of the syrupmoving with the bottle during the crowning operation, a continuously moving conveyor for delivering the bottle to said syruping unit, continuously moving means for delivering the bottle from the syruping unit to the filler and for delivering the bottle from the filler to the crowning unit, a single driving motor for operating said various units including the conveyor and a slip connection between said motor and said units.

7. In a bottle filling machine, the combination with a bottle filler including a continuously moving bottle supporting member, a syruping unit continuously movable with the bottle during the syruping operation, a crowning unit continuously movable with the bottle during the crowning operation, a conveyor for delivering the bottles to the syruping unit and receiving the bottles from said crowning unit and continuously driven, a single continuously moving transfer means for removing the bottle from the syruper to the filler and from the filler to the crowner, a driving shaft having driving connections with said various units for continuously operating thesame, a motor for driving said shaft and a slip connection between said motor and said shaft.

8. In a machine of the character described, the combination with a single continuously rotating transfer member, of a continuously rotating syruper, a continuously rotating bottle filler and a continuously rotating crowner grouped about said transfer member and so positioned that the bottles on the syruper will be engaged by the transfer member and delivered to the filler and the bottles on the filler will be engaged by the transfer member and delivered to the crowner.

9. In a machine of the character described, the combination with astationary platform, of a continuously rotating syruper having a bottlereceiving support in the same plane as said platform, a continuously rotating crowner adjacent said syruper and having a-bottle-receiving support in the same plane as said platform, a continuously-rotating transfer member extending above said platform between said syruper and said crowner and a continuously-rotating bottle" filling machine having bottle-supporting means moving adjacent said platform, said transfer means being positioned to remove the bottles from the syruper and deliver the same to the filling machine and remove the bottles from the filling machine and deliver the same to the crowner.

10. In a machine of the character described, the combination with continuously-moving bottie-supporting means of a filling unit, a continuously-rotating syruper, a continuously ro-, tating crowner, a' single continuously rotating transfer means for removing the bottles from said syruper and delivering the same to said nism and a rotary crowning mechanism, means.

to deliver containers to the syruping mechanism,

a transfer means to move containers about one side thereof from the syruping mechanism to the filling mechanism, said transfer means being adapted to move containers about the other side thereof from the filling mechanism to the crowning mechanism and means to remove containers from the crowning mechanism.

12. The combination in a filling machine, of a conveyor, a rotary syruping mechanism,means to move containers from one end of.said conveyor to said syruping mechanism, a rotary fill-- ing mechanism, rotating transfer means to move containers about one side thereof from said syruping mechanism to said filling mechanism,

a rotary crowning mechanism, said rotating transfer means being adapted to move containers about the opposite side thereof from said filling mechanism to said crowning mechanism, and means to move containers from said crowning mechanism to the opposite end of said conveyor.

13. A filling machine comprising a worktable, a conveyor movable upon said worktable, a rotary syruping mechanism including a spider to hold containers in position'with respect to said syruping mechanism, a rotary infeed spider to move containers from one end of said conveyor to said syruping spider, a rotary filling mechanism, a rotary transfer spider adapted to move containers about one side thereof from said syruping mechanism to said filling mechanism, a rotary crowning mechanism including a spider to hold containers in position with respect to said crowning mechanism, said transfer spider being adapted to move containers about the opposite side thereof from said filling mechanism to said crowning mechanism, and an outfeed spider adapted tomove containers from said crowning mechanism to the opposite end of said conveyor.

14. The combination in a filling machine, of a rotary syruping mechanism, a rotary filling mechanism, a rotary crowning mechanism, a rotary transfer means to move containers from the syruping mechanism to the filling mechanism and from the filling mechanism to the crowning mechanism, said mechanisms and said means being mounted upon vertical shafts, a motor, a

ers from the syruping mechanism to the filling mechanism, and from the filling mechanism to the crowning mechanism, said filling mechanism and said transfer means being mounted on vertical shafts, a horizontal driving shaft, and gearing connection between said horizontal shaft and the vertical shaft of the transfer means and the filling mechanism shaft.

16. A filling machine comprising a rotary syruping mechanism, a rotary filling mechanism, and a rotary crowning mechanism, the syruping mechanism and the crowning mechanism being respectively'provided with a plurality of syruping and crowning heads and spiders to position the bottles in alignment with the heads, and means to feed bottles to the syruping spider, the filling mechanism being provided with a plurality of bottle supporting platforms and filling heads in alignment with the latter, a transfer spider to move bottles from the syruping spider to the bottle supporting platforms and to remove bottles from the bottle supporting platforms to the crowning spider, means'to remove bottles from.

rotary transfer spider adapted to move containers about one side thereof from said syruping mechanism to said filling mechanism. a rotary crowning mechanism including a spider to hold containers in position with respect to said crowning mechanism, said transferspider being adapted to move containers about the opposite side thereof from said filling mechanism to said crowning mechanism.

JAMES KANTOR. 

